May 18, 2015 Monday Night RAW
The May 18, 2015 Edition of RAW is a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE's RAW brand, which took place on May 18, 2015 at Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia. This was the Raw after Payback. Episode summary Stephanie McMahon returned to Raw Mama’s home. With Triple H having re-inserted himself into The Authority’s machinations last week, Stephanie McMahon didn’t waste any time returning to The King of Kings’ side after a lengthy trip to Singapore. She returned to Raw, million dollar smile on display, to help fete Seth Rollins for his successful defense of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WWE Payback. Of course, she also couldn’t risk a chance to run down Daniel Bryan one more time, showcasing The Beard’s vacant Intercontinental Championship while hyping the Elimination Chamber Match on May 31 that will determine its next bearer. Two potential suitors for the title made themselves known almost instantly: Sheamus, who clobbered Bryan in The “Yes!” Man’s final singles match before falling to injury, and Ryback, who stood up for the absent fan-favorite. The Human Wrecking Ball brazenly told The Celtic Warrior he looked stupid, successfully stopped Stephanie mid-sentence and, for his grand finale, dared Sheamus to pick on someone his own size. And to top it off, both of them were confirmed as contestants in the Elimination Chamber. To quote a certain someone: “Yes!” Rusev dismissed Lana Granting John Cena a WrestleMania match? Forgivable. Dancing with Fandango on Raw? Aggravating, but not the end of the world. Quitting in Rusev’s stead during a make-or-break U.S. Title Match at WWE Payback? Well, that was one transgression too far for Lana, who was officiallydismissed as Rusev’s ambassador following her decision to throw in the towel on The Super Athlete’s behalf in his “I Quit” confrontation with Cena at WWE Payback. Despite Lana’s emotional pleas for forgiveness from Rusev (and her revelation that he did, in fact, say "I quit" in Bulgarian), the former U.S. Champion put his foot on the proverbial table. He gave The Ravishing Russian her walking papers for the unforgivable crime of showing weakness. From now on, Rusev fights alone. The New Day vs Tyson Kidd & Cesaro The power of positivity prevails again: Despite Xavier Woods being banned from ringside thanks to his not-entirely-on-the-level pinfall at WWE Payback, The New Day still retained their WWE Tag Team Championship against Cesaro & Tyson Kidd, setting the stage for their sure-to-be-brutal title defense inside the Elimination Chamber. Granted, they did it because Big E & Kofi Kingston stomped Kidd in the corner until the ref called off the match. But even with Woods’ arrival to tilt the odds in their favor, The New Day got their comeuppance moments later when The Lucha Dragons, Los Matadores, The Ascension and The Prime Time Players arrived to kick off a 13-man melee that ended with PTP standing tall … at least for another two weeks. Dolph Ziggler vs Stardust As satisfying as it surely was for Dolph Ziggler to finally make Sheamus kiss his arse (Payback is sweet after all), it’s likely that his lip-lock on Raw was all the more sweeter. Having dispatched a reeling Stardust with a Zig Zag, the stitched-up Showoff got a one-two punch of good news. First, he was informed he’ll be heading into the Elimination Chamber to challenge for the vacant Intercontinental Championship. Then, Lana came down to the ring and planted one right on “Zig Man.” Rusev wasn’t particularly pleased, despite having given Lana the heave-ho an hour earlier, but The Super Athlete ended up with egg on his face when Lana slapped him across the cheek and Ziggler dispatched him with a Zig Zag. Nikki Bella vs Naomi Bad news first for Naomi: She didn’t get the Divas Title from Nikki Bella, despite technically defeating the champion in their contest on Raw — and despite having Tamina in her corner while Stephanie McMahon banned Brie Bella from ringside — thanks to Tamina superkicking Nikki post–Rack Attack. The worse news for Naomi followed: Paige returned moments after the match, with retribution on her mind after Naomi took her out to become Nikki’s No. 1 contender in the first place. Finally, bad news came for Nikki: Paige wasn’t in the mood to be buddy-buddy with her, either, planting Nikki with the Ram-Paige and picking up exactly where she left off. Results * Tag Team Match for the WWE Tag Team Championships: Tyson Kidd & Cesaro (w/ Natalya) defeated The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) © by DQ * Singles Match for the WWE Divas Championship: '''Nikki Bella © defeated Naomi (w/ Tamina) by DQ Other on-screen talent * '''Ring announcer: Eden Stiles * Interviewer: Renee Young Media Category:RAW episodes Category:2015 television episodes Category:Episodes featuring Stephanie McMahon Category:Episodes featuring Lana Category:Natalya Category:Nikki Bella Category:Episodes featuring Naomi Category:Episodes featuring Tamina Snuka Category:Episodes featuring Paige Category:Episodes featuring Eden Category:Episodes featuring Renee Young Category:WWE television episodes